Mayor Walsh plans to add nearly $5 million to the Boston Public Schools budget
Less than one week after city councilors called for more public school funding when they rejected a proposed $2.97 billion city budget, Mayor Marty Walsh announced Monday that he plans to increase the Boston Public Schools portion of the budget by nearly $5 million.
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Walsh made the announcement in a Medium post, where he reiterated his commitment to Boston Public Schools. This investment, he wrote, will set “BPS on a path for unprecedented success.”
“During my campaign for mayor, I made my values clear,” he wrote. “I believe deeply in public education. And I believe our unstinting goals in public education should be to close opportunity and achievement gaps, meet the diverse needs of every kind of student, and make our district schools top choices for every family in every neighborhood.”
Walsh said the $4.7 million he’s adding to the budget will help bring rigorous coursework to a diverse group of students, will ensure greater student safety, and will allow special needs populations to be better served.
The additional funding includes a $1.2 million investment in Superintendent Tommy Chang’s “Excellence for All” program, which will offer a more challenging curriculum to fourth graders in 13 schools. The mayor also said $1 million will be allocated to planning for extended learning time for special student populations. The district will be able to better track ridership with $600,000 for a new transportation data system, Walsh said, and an additional $230,000 will be given to early learning centers, which were facing large cuts.
Other investments include grants for dual language programs and translation services, as well as funding to support long-term planning and more efficient operations throughout the district.
Walsh also addressed the contentious “McKinsey report” in his post, which was a $660,000 city-ordered audit of Boston Public Schools by the consultant group McKinsey & Company. The report suggested the district could save an initial $120 million to $200 million by closing 30 to 50 of its 125 schools.
“I want to debunk the premise behind rumors of widespread closures and other ‘secret agendas,'” Walsh wrote. “No outside audit, and no partnership with any reform organization, commits us to any course of action that is not supported by our community. Reports and recommendations are data points, not plans.”
The mayor said he will give City Council a new version of the budget on June 20. They will vote on June 22.
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